Energy account in credit

philbrim

Hi. I am with Octopus. My account os £600 in credit. Do I let it ride for the winter or reduce payments? Views very welcome please

Brie

Do your own annual estimate of use and what your DDs should be.  Obviously they have been too high.  If you don't mind not having a strict set amount maybe switch to a variable DD instead so you  are paying for actual use each month.  That should mean that you don't pay for a month or so using up the credit.

Dolor

philbrim said:

Hi. I am with Octopus. My account is £600 in credit. Do I let it ride for the winter or reduce payments? Views very welcome please

Before you even think about drawing down any credit you need to check that it is based on actual meter readings. We also need to know what you think that your annual cost will be and how much a month you are paying now?

FWiW, I maintain a minimum balance of one month’s charges on my account and adjust my monthly payment as required. Clearly, my credit balance is much higher in January than in July. As my account benefits from solar exports at the moment, then my DD payment is set at £10 per month.

PRAISETHESUN

Depends on your usage - how much does £600 get you? For me that's a year and a bit worth of usage so I'd be chomping at the bit to get it back, but for others it could only be a month or two. You need to do your own sums, but I'd probably ask your supplier to review your DD and justify their figures. We are going into winter where usage is expected to be higher, but that level of credit still might be too much based on your historic usage.

frugalmacdugal

Hi,

is that credit balance since a recent statement, say last couple of days, or is there maybe a 3 month bill to come off that?

philbrim

Latest bill that's up to date! They even say based on usage my DD should be £206 pm? We are 2 people in a 3 bed semi with the heating off approx May - Oct 

QrizB

philbrim said:

Latest bill that's up to date! They even say based on usage my DD should be £206 pm? We are 2 people in a 3 bed semi with the heating off approx May - Oct 

Being in credit by 2-3 months' payments at the end of August is about right.

So, if your annual bill is £2400, I'd leave the credit there.

If you do request a refund, be aware that you might need to make a manual top-up payment if we have a moderately-hard winter.

frugalmacdugal

Hi,

so what was your last annual usage based on actual readings?

Unit rate and standing charge, please?

PRAISETHESUN

philbrim said:

Latest bill that's up to date! They even say based on usage my DD should be £206 pm? We are 2 people in a 3 bed semi with the heating off approx May - Oct 

I agree with @frugalmacdugal here. Ignore the DD amount for a moment and focus on whether your actual usage (in kWh) + standing charges is actually representative of the £206/month DD taken. Check the meter readings you've submitted (and make sure you are being billed on actual figures, not estimates!).

Depending if your usage over a 12 month period is enough to add up to ~£2400/year, then your DD amount may be sensible. Otherwise you risk either continuing to build up credit (in which case a refund may be sensible and the monthly DD amount lowered), or you may be due to pay more in future since you aren't paying enough.

Bigphil1474

We're about £700 in credit at the moment, but our cheap 2 year fixed deal ends next month, so are expecting a big increase in cost going forward. We'll be leaving the credit in place to ease the monthly payments for the next 12 months. That suits us.